Ha's Place of Love (I): – A New Year's Eve Gift

GiadinhNet - While sitting down for a New Year's Eve feast, Viet Ha suddenly heard the frightened whimpering of a small dog outside the iron gate. "A cat coming to the house is bad luck, a dog coming to the house is good luck," Ha thought, hugging the little dog and deciding to keep it.

On the night of the 30th of Tet (Lunar New Year's Eve), firecrackers exploded everywhere. In the city, the ban on firecrackers was relatively strictly enforced. Even hearing firecrackers in the city was considered unusual. In the countryside, however, the ban was only half-enforced. Entire villages and communes would set off firecrackers. The rural areas were vast and the population scattered, making police control difficult. Besides, if the whole village or commune set off firecrackers, who would the police fine? Surely not the entire commune. Dogs were most afraid of firecrackers. There's a saying: "As afraid as dogs are of firecrackers." People setting off firecrackers caused dogs to scatter in all directions. One dog, which was raising four puppies, ran into the fields to escape the firecrackers and only returned two days later to nurse her young.

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The New Year's Eve feast was placed on the table by her mother. The whole family wished each other a happy new year, and the adults gave New Year's gifts to the children. While sitting and eating the feast, Viet Ha suddenly heard the frightened whimpering of a small dog outside the iron gate. Viet Ha ran out and saw a very small dog, seemingly separated from its mother, trembling and huddled against the gate. Viet Ha opened the gate, hugged the dog, and comforted it: "Don't be afraid. I'm here. I'll protect you." It seemed that Viet Ha's warmth and embrace had lessened the little dog's fear. It stopped whimpering, although its heart was still pounding and its whole body was still trembling.

Mr. Ngo, Viet Ha's father, said, "Viet Ha is crazy. Bringing a dog home at the beginning of the new year." "It came to our doorstep, Dad. A cat coming to the house is bad luck, a dog coming to the house is good luck. I'll keep this dog. It has three swirls on its back, which proves it's a rare breed." "Three swirls or even ten swirls, it's still a dog, not a dragon. Besides, you don't know whose dog it is, so keeping it is a waste of time. Soon its owner will come to claim it, and then you won't be able to keep it anymore."

Regardless, Viet Ha kept the dog. She named it Mic and took very good care of it every day. She mixed the best rice dishes for it to eat and would pick it up and pet it when she got home from school.

A few days after Tet, Mrs. Hoi from the beginning of the village came to Viet Ha's house: "I heard you were raising my dog. It was scared of firecrackers and ran away on the night of the 30th, and I couldn't find it. Now I've found it here, please give it back to me." "Grandma! I love it very much, I've already named it, and now it's like my little sister. I'll pay whatever you sell it for, but please don't take my dog, Mic, away."

(To be continued)

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/chon-yeu-thuong-cua-ha-i-mon-qua-dem-cuoi-nam-172220727212614527.htm